Baby Spam/Picture Post

Hello there! A lot has happened since my last post, but as always being busy isn't an excuse.

I started a new job (same place but a higher position) as the Beauty Department Advisor. It's been a ton of hard work but things have really been coming along since we opened.

Regardless, this past week my sister, brother in law, and nephew have been visiting before they move to Japan, so I tried to spend as much time as humanly possible with them. I've collected over 200 pictures and video clips from this past week and I haven't done a haul like this in a long time. I just couldn't miss a moment.

Bedtime stories with Grandpa

Seeing them go this morning was so bitter-sweet. I know they're on to bigger and more exciting adventures together as their little family but it was so hard to watch the sister that's been there since the moment I was born walk away with a little boy I've loved from the start. I told Nick it was almost a tease because this week it felt like we had so much time, and then suddenly, the week was over and they're gone again.

Enough sad typing, though. Let me show you some of the great moments we had together while they were here (video post coming soon) and you can check out my sisters blog HERE for updates and amazing or adorable pictures of their adventures in Japan!

With Grandma and Grandpa

Hanging out with Uncle Brandon

Learning to throw rocks

Handsome Dudes

High Five!

Tyler and his buddy, Liam

Holding my hand before they boarded their plane...

Oklahoma, We Meet Again...

Now that the time has almost come to go back to snowy, freezing Connecticut, I decided I would share some of this crazy week with you!

Mom and I ate at this really great Mexican restaurant in the Baltimore Airport called Zona Cocina. If you ever pass through there, I definitely recommend it if you have a little time to kill.

Mom slept through most of the flight! I don't know how she does it, I can't sleep on planes even if I try.

I snuggled this munchkin as much as humanly possible. I love this kid, he's awesome.

Also, bath mohawks are still super fun. He's kind of got the Flock of Seafulls thing going for him.

This restaurant was amazing. Their food is delicious, and incredibly cheap. The walls are also lined with more kinds of soda than I ever could have imagined. It's so neat, and there's a huge soda bottle with a straw statue in the front of it that lights up at night.

Small section of a soda wall.

Someone enjoyed sharing Grandma's milkshake!

Little Bubby turned one!!! I can't believe it's been a whole year already. It's been so crazy this last year with so many ups and downs and I'm so incredibly proud of this little guy and my sister and brother in law for making such a great little human. To many more birthdays, Little Man. I love you so much.

And even though I miss this guy like crazy and we've Skyped all week, it's a little bitter sweet to leave. I didn't get a chance to see anyone I know from when I lived here last year, and I'm going to miss these guys until they visit in May, but I'm pretty ready to go back to work and get some much needed snuggle time in.

So, thanks, Oklahoma. Although I can pretty honestly say I'll never live here on any sort of permanent basis, it's been real. I don't know if I'll ever be back, but I've enjoyed what I could while I could and that's good enough for me.

Welcome Back/Books I Love

Hello, again!  Sorry I haven't updated in over two weeks now, it's been absolutely crazy for me and I feel like this is the first time I've really been able to sit down and keep my eyes open long enough to write for a bit.  I will get more into detail in the next post about what I've been up to, because I obviously haven't been keeping up to date with my Instalife posts either.

However, as some of you may know, I had a little vacation time to go home and visit my boyfriend and some friends as well as the family I have still in CT and the day I came back to Oklahoma, my nephew was born!  Needless to say, vacation and baby, plus going back to work just in time for spring cleaning has been hectic and exhausting to say the least, but at least I've been staying busy and making plans to get back into the swing of things.

I had had this idea of wanting to post some of my favorite books with you guys for a while now.  As I mentioned in this post, I have a goal to read more in 2014 (you can find my reading list for the year here).  Since I don't think I read many, if any books at all last year, I'm already off to a good start.

All photos in this post courtesy of Goodreads.com

I've finished Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris, which was a really great book.  It's written in true David Sedaris form, which I've found to be a mixture of wit, hilarity and also, at times, truly heartbreaking.  I honestly have not found a book by him that I haven't enjoyed (I've also read When You are Engulfed in Flames and parts of both Me Talk Pretty One day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim) and I fully plan to read the whole collection.  He often tells stories of his family, which will either remind you of your own (especially if you come from a larger one) or make you roll on the floor laughing at the sheer insanity of their actions.  I really can't recommend his books enough, especially if you're looking for a good laugh.

Some of my other favorite books include:

• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey - Although the story wasn't as true-to-life as the author originally tried to claim, the story itself is just wonderfully written.  A very interesting and somewhat graphic book.

• Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - I've read this at least 7 or 8 times now.  I also have a tattoo of one of my favorite quotes and the movie is almost just as great as the book itself.

• Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - This still comes up in my mind every so often, simply because of how much it made me think and pay attention to detail.  It's a little more on the challenging side, especially if you have very little attention span, but the history and occasional graphic scenes keep your attention from wandering too far. 

• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - A true classic, and something I think everyone should read in their life.  This was one of the few books I actually read when I was in school, and I'm really glad I did, although it did make me pretty sad.

• The Newsflesh Trilogy (Feed, Deadline, & Blackout) - If you like zombie books and have a faint interest in politics and the media, this is definitely something I would recommend.  The first boo, Feed, was a little slow starting off, but once you get to about the halfway point, the story gets very interesting.  I won't lie, I had to kind of force myself through the first book, but the second two were nearly impossible to put down.  The action and suspense had me hooked and I finished the second two books within a week.

So what are your favorite books?  I'm currently reading This Book is Full of Spiders by David Wong, but honestly, I'm kind of struggling to focus.  The book is interesting, but I think it's just my attention span kicking my butt.